She's probably just adjusting... isn't she?
What a Coaching Scenario is
Not quiz style. This is judgement practice — you're put inside a real situation from human-services work and asked what you would actually do. It draws on the knowledge you use on the job, not the kind you can look up.
Every choice changes what happens next, and every choice gets a coaching beat straight after it: what drew you toward that option, and how it played out. What's held back is the verdict on your path, so you stay with what you'd genuinely do rather than working out what you're supposed to say.
- 4 decisions
- Each one shaped by the one before it. No two paths through are the same.
- Coaching as you go
- A beat after every decision, naming the pull behind your choice and where it led.
- A full debrief
- Your whole path replayed at the end, with the reasoning behind each decision you made.
- Evidence you can keep
- A completed scenario is recorded in your PracticeLab and appears in your downloadable ProofKit.
Scenarios are made to be talked about. Most people finish one still turning it over, which makes them a ready-made prompt for supervision, a team meeting or a conversation with a colleague — everyone walks the same situation, and comparing where you each landed is often where the real learning happens.
This one ends with
Next time you notice a child being very quiet in a space where quiet feels out of place, let yourself stay curious about it a little longer before deciding it's fine.
The situation
Tania and her seven-year-old daughter Hana arrive at the refuge on a Tuesday evening. Tania is exhausted, hyper-alert, and checks the door twice before sitting down. She answers intake questions carefully but her eyes keep moving to Hana, who sits very still beside her colouring book, not colouring.
By the third day, you have noticed a pattern with Hana. In group spaces she goes quiet and seems to disappear into herself, scanning the room when adults raise their voices — even in laughter. She has started wetting the bed, which Tania tells you quietly, with visible embarrassment, wasn't happening before they left. At mealtimes Hana eats quickly and tends to position herself with her back to the wall.
You know that some of what you're seeing is a normal adjustment response to an enormous upheaval. Children who've witnessed family violence often show exactly these signs in the first weeks. But you also know that "wait and see" is not always the right call, and that early support can make a real difference to how children come through experiences like this.
You are a support worker at the refuge. Tania trusts you — she said so yesterday when you brought Hana a colouring book. You hold that trust carefully. You also hold a professional responsibility to Hana that exists alongside your relationship with Tania.
What you're practising
Before you start, notice
Real-world decisions in scenarios like this are shaped as much by feeling as by reasoning. People often notice one of these pulls — naming what you feel before you decide is half the skill.
- The urge to wait and see — not wanting to overreact or alarm a mother who's already been through so much
- Protectiveness toward Tania — not wanting to add to her stress by raising concerns about Hana
- Uncertainty about whether you're qualified to 'call' this — and the pull to defer to someone else rather than act
- The discomfort of raising a hard topic with someone who trusts you, and the risk of getting it wrong
Policies this draws on
- United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child
- Your organisation's child safeguarding policy
- Your organisation's child protection reporting procedures
- Trauma-informed care frameworks
- Your own organisation's policies take precedence — check them where they apply.
Heads up — coaching scenarios work differently. You'll make a sequence of decisions as the situation unfolds, and after each one you'll get a coaching beat: what drew you toward that choice, and how it played out. The one thing held back is the verdict on the path you took — that lands in the debrief at the end, with your whole walk replayed alongside it.
New to Good Practice Hub? Coaching Scenarios come with PracticeLab Pro, or browse the practice library to see what else is there.
More Coaching Scenarios
See the whole library
Coaching ScenarioYou've overhead a child disclosure. Do you have enough to act?
You are a client services worker at a community organisation that runs after-school programmes for tamariki aged 6–12. It's a busy Thursday afternoon, and you're moving through the activity room tidying up when you hear two children talking quietly near the bookshelf.
Client Services · ~12 minutes
Coaching ScenarioWhen you don't want to betray her trust
You work as a client services worker at a community organisation supporting women from refugee backgrounds. You have been working with Amara for about four months. She fled a situation of serious domestic violence in her home country and arrived in Australia/New Zealand with her two children, aged five and eight.
Client Services · ~12 minutes
Coaching ScenarioThe little comment you can not ignore
You work at a women's refuge. Part of your role is supporting residents and their children through what is often an unsettled, frightening time. Today you're sitting with Samantha, aged six, in the activity corner while her mother Pia attends a key worker session in another room. Samantha is colouring a picture of a house when she says quite matter-of-factly: "Daddy grabbed Mummy by the neck last night."
Client Services · ~12 minutes